Keeping Your Role in HR Pivotal to the Future of A Company's Success

By Jori Hamilton

Image Source: Unsplash

May 3 2022 - Human resources professionals have long been a fundamental part of every successful organization. They keep a company’s entire workforce in tip-top shape by managing all the processes involved in the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to payroll and benefits programs. Without HR teams, businesses wouldn’t be able to satisfy their employees - and company culture would be virtually non-existent.

But while HR has proven to be essential in recent years, particularly as business owners face mass resignations, the role of HR professionals is shifting fast. If you want to future-proof your position, you need to become a necessary part of your company, wherever it’s headed.

Here are four tips to help you make yourself indispensable in the changing environment of a post-pandemic business.

Embrace HR Software

Strong digital skills are a key indicator of success in today’s workforce. As technology rapidly develops and businesses go remote, every role is becoming more streamlined and automated in every industry. HR is no exception. Holding onto traditional skills and processes, like manual resume screening and physical documentation, can render your role obsolete.

HR professionals who are fit for the digital age are those who embrace software and use it to enhance their quality of work. When you learn how to effectively use HR management tools, online recruitment software, and more, you can get more work done in less time - all while reducing errors and improving the employee experience.

By automating repetitive tasks and speeding up your workflows, you can focus on making more meaningful contributions to your organization.

Become a Strategic Partner for Business Leaders

Ever since the start of the pandemic, HR professionals have increasingly become strategic partners for business leaders. Since employees are a company’s most important asset - especially as they become more scarce during the Great Resignation - the most valuable HR practitioners are those who can use their workforce expertise to make improvements that contribute to business growth.

For example, with a great organizational strategy that provides every team member with adequate support and clear career paths, HR professionals can keep an organization prepared for business growth and promotions - all while reducing burnout.

HR can also play a pivotal role in large-scale changes. When business leaders want to change their strategic direction, great HR professionals can immediately develop a change management plan to ensure that all employees receive the training they need and are excited for (rather than wary of) organizational shifts.

Improve Your Data Literacy

The most effective HR strategies aren’t wild guesses. As data becomes more readily available, modern human resources teams are making more data-backed decisions that increase their likelihood of success. Naturally, the ability to read and translate data into actionable insights has become an essential skill for HR employees.

Learning to use data can help you improve your performance in a variety of ways. By regularly tracking metrics, HR professionals can:

• Track employee engagement in a measurable way (and understand what impacts it)
• Spot overperforming, underperforming, and overworked employees
• Identify opportunities for automation, organizational changes, and more
• Determine if they’re hitting their diversity and inclusion goals

Data literacy helps you make workplaces more efficient and improve the employee experience - both of which are ideal HR results that business leaders look for.

Hone Your Soft Skills

Acing your next performance review requires more than technical skills. As the world becomes more and more automated, HR teams are increasingly tasked with adding a human touch to their organization. Businesses need HR professionals who can be effective employee advocates and culture developers to increase retention and morale.

Honing your soft skills is an essential part of playing this role successfully. In order to build trust with both current and potential employees, HR professionals need to be expert communicators who understand the nuances of verbal, non-verbal, and written communication.

Practicing empathy is also essential. As workers gain leverage over employers in the post-pandemic world, HR practitioners who can build relationships and earn employee trust are essential for developing a loyal workforce. Plus, with more businesses going remote and working with international hires, your empathy for people of all cultures can improve your ability to create an inclusive employee experience.

Be Prepared to Adapt

More than anything, HR professionals must be adaptable to future-proof their positions. By continuously improving your digital literacy and soft skills, as well as working with a futuristic mindset, you can stay on top of every change in your field and make yourself indispensable to your business.

In the present, the world is shifting toward a need for professionals who can streamline and enhance their work with HR software and data, so they can contribute more to core business strategies. HR professionals must become strategists, employee advocates, and culture experts to play a pivotal role in the success of modern companies and prove themselves as indispensable.

More HR Articles